Former Ghost of Yotei Artist Speaks Out
A developer who worked on the acclaimed PlayStation 5 game Ghost of Yotei has publicly addressed her recent termination from Sucker Punch Productions. The dismissal followed online controversy surrounding a social media post she made about the death of political commentator Charlie Kirk.
In September 2025, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during an event at Utah Valley Campus. The incident sparked widespread news coverage and public reaction. Drew Harrison, an artist at Sucker Punch, subsequently posted a joke about the situation on her personal BlueSky account.
The post quickly drew attention online, leading to calls from some users for a boycott of Sucker Punch and its parent company, Sony. The studio then became the target of significant online harassment.
In her first interview since the incident, Harrison told Aftermath that she initially believed the negative attention would pass. “I assumed it was going to go how it always has: Nobody cares about what they say because they literally only harass for the fun of it,” she explained.
The situation escalated rapidly. Harrison stated that the next day, she informed her colleagues about the backlash via an office chat message, writing, “I made the worst people on the internet mad. As an apology, there are banana muffins in the kitchen.”
Shortly after, Harrison says she was on an unscheduled call with a Sony HR representative who informed her she was being immediately fired for “inciting violence.”
Harrison acknowledged that her joke was “not in the best taste.” However, she expressed disappointment with the process, noting that she was never asked to delete the post or to issue a formal apology. “I would have worked with PR to write an apology,” she stated. “It feels like nobody investigated the harassment me and my coworkers were receiving.”
Also, Read
- Ghost of Yotei’s Director Reveals a Cut Feature That Would Have Doubled the Game’s Size
- Ghost of Yotei Free Update Adds New Game+ and More Next Week
- The Secret Ghost of Yotei Boss is Based on a Real, Undefeated Samurai
According to Harrison, no one from Sucker Punch’s leadership team contacted her before the dismissal was finalized. Sony has not publicly commented on the specific details of the termination.
The situation highlights the complex challenges developers and studios face when employees’ personal social media activity intersects with their professional roles, especially on sensitive topics.